Month: April 2017

I still haven’t done the photos for the summer book promo. I simply haven’t had time to scout the location I want to use or to prepare some of the props. I would have had time last weekend, except for the overabundant rain we got… all weekend.

This weekend was taken up with errands and the cleaning of the cats’ room.

Naturally, these activities also interfered with getting any typing done on Maelstrom of Fate.

So, here’s a pic of the cats to make up for it. (Okay, it’s just Wally, Tribble, and Louie. Star and Cricket wouldn’t stay still.)

I’d like to think I made up this weekend for not getting any typing or revising done on Maelstrom of Fate last weekend. Here are the current standings:

Pages: 180

Word count: 54,816

Chapter in progress: 24 out of 31 + epilogue

The Adventures of Pigg & Woolfe is coming along nicely, as well. I’m currently working on Episode 20, and had the backstory for a major villain present itself this past week. I personally believe to write a good, meaty villain, he/she has to have a good backstory and motivation. The reader should be able to understand why the villain does what they do; not approve or like it, but understand it. This is a luxury fiction writers can afford. Too often in real life, we never get an explanation or insight into why real villains commit their atrocities and crimes; we only see the results of their actions.

To be honest, even if we did get the background and explanation, I doubt we’d understand how they could tell themselves those things are okay for them to do.

I’ve been busily typing most of the day and part of yesterday after errands. With 50+ hour work weeks right now, I don’t have time to do much more than work, shower, eat, and sleep during the week.

Things are coming along, and I’ve already made some drastic revisions to a couple of scenes. I still can’t figure out where my brain was to have some characters standing at the aft rail then go to the liquor cabinet. How did they get into the captain’s cabin from there? Fixed that. Other corrections were to keep events or facts consistent with the previous books.

Belladonna still managed to keep her exact age a mystery. In the past she’s mentioned visiting the Library of Alexandria in her youth to study her human prey. In a recent scene, she claims to have been around as a child for the Great Flood and that her kind fed well on the watery purge of humanity. I realize some may see this as an inconsistency, since the library came along a few millennia after the flood. I’ve never actually described how long it takes a siren to reach adulthood, however; so I decided to let that statement stand as is.

I may do some more typing tonight, but I also plan to record, edit, and post the next video in the Readings from the Log of the Pirate Ship Incubus series. I’ll be reading the excerpt titled “Tomcat” in the Convention Reads and Excerpts section of the Readers’ Refuge.

My current stats on Maelstrom of Fate are:

word count: 39,555

pages: 130

I’m on chapter 18. I’m not going to give a paragraph count, since a lot of recent paragraphs have single sentences due to dialogue. I am well into the chapter, however.

Things are moving along. As of last night, I have reached chapter 14, paragraph 21. Page count in the current format is 93, and word count is at 28,311. I was able to get a little typing done during the work week for a change, but the majority of this week’s progress was attained Saturday.

I just posted the seventh entry in my Readings from the Log of the Pirate Ship Incubus video series and have added it to the appropriate excerpt page and the landing page for Silent Fathoms.

While doing laundry today, I began to brainstorm a Summer Reading book marketing campaign similar to my Take a Pirate Home for Christmas campaign. This will ideally involve using images of the books in a beach setting with appropriately themed props.

Now if I can just find the time to get to a beach to take the photos before things get crowded (before Summer, in other words).

Finally, I am well into episode 18 of The Adventures of Pigg & Woolfe. Episode 24 will mark the end of the second season. I need to start hunting for a publisher.